Africans (tribe)

Africans , actually ǃGû-ǃgôun or Nauba-xu gye ǀki-khoen , is the name of a clan of the Orlam - Nama people who originated at the Cape of Good Hope in what is now South Africa . The name is derived from the name of their captain Jager Afrikaner ( ǀHôaǀarab ; 1760–1823).

history

The Africans - like all other Orlam tribes - come from the association of the Dutch , who have lived in the Cape since 1652, with the Nama women in their service . Due to their close proximity to the Europeans, the Africans were very familiar with the way of life of the colonizers, had learned to read and write a great deal there and - as they were often employed as farm guards - learned to use firearms. The Africans had their tribal seat near Roode Sand on the Winterhoek (South Africa) - around the area of today's city of Tulbagh . They made their living mainly by hunting down the San , who also lived there, with the support of the Dutch , as they troubled the settlers with frequent cattle theft. The Africans were thus a recognized part of the Cape Dutch police and performed this task even after the British came to power in 1795.

Train north

The tribe had in 1796 for the murder of Kapholländers Pieter Pienaar and his family from persecution by the Kappolizei north into what is now Namibia , flee and initially settled on an island in Oranje , later in Namaqualand in Khauxanas and then at the place Warmbad down . They lived there mainly from raids and were the terror of the Nama tribes, farmers and explorers who settled there. Numerous attempts by the Cape Government to pacify the tribe failed because of their mobility and better local knowledge. During an attack on the Warmbad mission station in 1811, Jager Afrikaner first came into contact with Christian teaching. He was then converted, was baptized in 1815, renounced his previous life as a robber and in 1817 even turned himself in to the Cape Town police as a repentant sinner. Jager was pardoned, returned to Warmbad and led a "godly life" until his death in 1823.

Clashes with the Herero

After Jager Afrikaner's death, the tribe split up: the more peaceful part stayed in Warmbad, the rest was taken over by the Jager Afrikaner's youngest son, Jonker Afrikaner ( ǀHara-mûb or ǀHôa-ǀaramab ), and led them through countless raids and wars against almost everyone in South West Africa resident tribes, but above all against the mighty Herero , to an abundance of power unknown for those times. The new tribal seat was Windhoek in 1840 , today's capital of Namibia, with almost 30,000 inhabitants. The attack on the Herero in 1850, the so-called carnage of Okahandja , marked the climax of the power of the Africans, which was officially recognized by the other tribes of Southwest Africa with the peace treaty of Hoachanas on January 9, 1858. After another foray by Jonker Afrikaners into Ovamboland , he returned seriously ill and died a short time later on August 18, 1861 in Okahandja.

This event marks the turning point in the history of the tribe. The subsequent captain Christian Afrikaner ( ǀHaragab ) failed because of the friendly relationship between his brother Jan Jonker Afrikaner ( ǀHaramumab ) and Maharero , the chief of the Herero (Christian Afrikaner fell in an attack provoked by Maharero on June 15, 1863); Jan Jonker Afrikaner, who followed him in the captaincy, failed because of the regained Herero under their chief Maharero. Jan Jonker was demoted by Maharero after the "dictated peace of Okahandja" on September 23, 1870 to co-chief of the Herero and completely disempowered.

German colonial times

The German merchant Adolf Lüderitz took advantage of Jan Jonkers' weakness in 1885 and bought the hinterland of the British owned Walvis Bay from him. The validity of the treaty is controversial, as the weakened Africans, who only had 14 armed men, no longer controlled this area.

Another rebellion in 1889 against the Herero, who had become overpowering in the meantime, failed and forced the Africans to become robbers on the Gamsberg. There they clashed with the up-and-coming Witbooi ( ǀKhowesin ) under Hendrik Witbooi ( ǃNanseb ǀGabemab ) and, on the run from them, were arrested with only 30 people at Tsaobis am Swakop. Jan Jonker was ready to surrender, but was shot by his son Phanuel on August 10, 1889, before the surrender negotiations began.

The rest of the African tribe then lived in the extreme south-east of what is now Namibia, right on the Orange River. When the rinderpest raged in South Africa in 1897 , the German colonial administration issued an order to keep a strip 20 kilometers wide along the border free of cattle in order to prevent the epidemic from spreading to the colony of German South West Africa founded in 1884 . The Africans took the seizure and killing of cattle by German patrols as a declaration of war. A battle on July 5, 1897 is considered the beginning of the uprising, in which members of the Bondelswart ( ǃGami-ǂnun ) and Veldschoendrager ( ǁHawoben ) also took part on the part of the Africans . In a final battle on August 2, 1897, part of the tribe fled across the border, leaving 37 dead, including 11 women. At the request of the German colonial administration, the British interned them and handed them over to the Germans. The leader Kividoe, his three sons and all male tribesmen were brought before a German military tribunal and then executed. This is considered the end of the trunk.

annotation

↑ Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

literature

Horst Drechsler : South West Africa under German colonial rule . Akademie Verlag, Berlin (GDR) 1984.